Like they told us in sex-ed: If you aren’t comfortable talking about it, you probably aren’t ready. It’s true — you probably shouldn’t be in that position or that room if you are not ready to say the damn thing.
Sometimes you are ready, you do care, but are afraid of sounding silly, alarmist, off, weird. Well, eff that. You need to get comfortable talking about it, and fast…or you will miss your opportunity. Decisions will be made for you. If you couldn’t just say “penis” or “sex” or “YES!” and give consent, well, that becomes the issue.
You have to speak up, or your rights will be written by another party. If you can’t say The Thing, you are not in charge, not in control. This is true of sex, relationships, parenting, money. Communications — words are everything. It’s why Biden and Pelosi failing to say “abortion” and watering down their position to play to moderates was such an epic fail.
It’s not presidential to walk on eggshells. If you can’t talk about it, are you really ready to be in control of the free world? You’re not ready to lead and should not be in the room if you can’t say abortion is healthcare as easily as my kids can. It sets the tone for the nation if you only talk vaguely about choice. This allows someone else, someone who can say something more jarring, (i.e. baby-murderers) to make the decision…for all of us.
I want the President and Speaker and everyone else to scream it on national TV. ABORTION!!! Abortion is NOT a bad word. Black isn’t a bad word. Racism isn’t a bad word. Feminism isn’t a bad word. It’s only BAD because “The Powers That Be” are afraid to talk about it.
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In a Politico piece from 2007 “Rhymes with Shmashmortion” article about the movie Knocked Up, reporter Helena Andrews talks about pop culture’s impact on the outcomes of our political realities, including how Hollywood deals (or doesn’t deal) with abortion on screen.
She talked about the elephant in the room that Director Apatow wouldn’t acknowledge, at least not by name. He avoided the word “abortion,” avoided showing anyone who had one, and basically avoided the subject entirely.
For a person I deeply respect, I remember watching it and thinking that glaring miss truly sucked. There could have easily been a counterexample in the movie of someone having had an abortion. They could have showed it was equally hard to decide and they were equally happy at the end.
A 2007 Judd Apatow wouldn’t even say it on the press junket.
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Men in the media and politics should try harder. Their inability to say “Abortion” is matched by their inability to think ahead or listen to women. We saw this coming, and we tried to warn everyone. Plenty of smart women in government tried to warn everyone, too. But the media decides whose story is told, whose voice gets amplified (or silenced.)
The New York Times keeps writing our story, but it’s reporters are by and large white men. The paper has a history of misogyny, firing one female reporter for getting choked up and saying she had chills when Biden’s plane landed on January 20th.
They have no room for feelings or humanity, even as they publish works about rapes in Tigray by soldiers, they have a droll matter of fact tone and create zero urgency. The occasional feminist piece does get written, and usually by a white woman. Articles about racism written by Black women. The economy? Men. All white men.
The Times wrote Elizabeth Warren out of the story the way these same men wrote us out. They claim we are close to losing our civil rights until we have none. They could instead use their power, influence, and pulpit to ensure we had them, including a much bigger headline about Abortion than about Ukraine or the economy every single day.
Until the week of the SCOTUS leak, Biden had not said “abortion” any point, even after elected in the past 2 years. He finally did say The Thing when the reporter got Alito’s draft. Too little, too late.
Much like our right to choose, Biden being the front runner for 2020 was decided for us, with the help of the media. Without our consent, before President Warren could have the hard conversations and say “Abortion” without flinching, The Powers That Be decided to take her out of the game; she was done. They decided “we” were done.
“Abortion is healthcare” from Shutterstock.com
The Times has become neo liberal B.S. They have no idea how to say The Thing…they don’t even know what they are saying! They accept money from Chevron to sponsor tug-on-your-heartstring stories, while running Ads on social media about decarbonization — from CHEVRON! Then they print a 10 page Climate Crisis video essay. Which is it?
They do have occasional guest essays that actually hit the mark. (Read anything by Roxane Gay). Of course, essays from amazing women like Gay aren’t even offered up to me on my NYT app. Once again they’re choosing what words I get to hear.
The Times has reported, we stand to lose our right to choose an abortion any day now. They say this as a fait accompli. It’s sensational news — the roll back of a SCOTUS precedent and our human rights––so it’s finally worth talking about, I guess?
Democrats won’t use the word Abortion lest it makes them lose their moderate image and therefore voters. But, it’s already happening from their apathy and failure to go apeshit like the GOP and far right did.
Don’t they see their moderate position and procedural love might be the end of democracy (and the planet)? As Robert Reich said, playing it safe is clearly not a winning strategy when the other side gives zero f&%ks and won’t own up to it. Ask any married couple or parent. If you can’t name the thing, everything starts to crumble. And, the irony of the patriarchy failing to communicate and have the hard convos leading to a complete breakdown of all systems is not lost on me.
Maybe we do need “polarized.” The absence of polarization, drama, and getting AOC level pissed in a fight for progress is bigger than Democrats losing elections; they continue to lose our right to a safe, healthy, equitable future. We need bold conversations, not less of them. We need more politics in our feed, not to mute it.
Get loud. Shout it from the rooftops. Say it with me.
Abortion is healthcare and healthcare is a human right!
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
The author asserts: “The New York Times keeps writing our story, but it’s reporters are by and large white men. The paper has a history of misogyny, firing one female reporter for getting choked up and saying she had chills when Biden’s plane landed on January 20th. They have no room for feelings or humanity, even as they publish works about rapes in Tigray by soldiers, they have a droll matter of fact tone and create zero urgency. The occasional feminist piece does get written, and usually by a white woman. Articles about racism written by Black women. The economy?… Read more »
”In a Politico piece from 2007 ‘Rhymes with Shmashmortion’ article about the movie Knocked Up, reporter Helena Andrews talks about pop culture’s impact on the outcomes of our political realities, including how Hollywood deals (or doesn’t deal) with abortion on screen. She talked about the elephant in the room that Director Apatow wouldn’t acknowledge, at least not by name. He avoided the word ‘abortion,’ avoided showing anyone who had one, and basically avoided the subject entirely. For a person I deeply respect, I remember watching it and thinking that glaring miss truly sucked. There could have easily been a counterexample… Read more »